Madlanga Commission Witness D's murder forces focus on whistleblower security

On Friday evening, after reportedly going out for dinner with his wife, Witness D to the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry pulled up to his home in Brenthurst, Brakpan.

He either waited for a gate to open or got out of his vehicle to open it on Gauld Street.

Witness D, it appears, was not under state protection.

This made him a sitting duck – gunmen ambushed him outside his home with an AK-47, according to police, before they fled.

Witness D’s anonymity is now pierced by his murder – and photographs from the scene expose how vulnerable he was in terms of protection and provide hints about his last moments.

#sapsHQ #SAPS launch manhunt for hit orderer, hitmen and AK47 used in witness D's murder.

The National Commissioner of SAPS, General Fannie Masemola will meet and brief Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga on investigations into the murder of Witness D.

General Masemola will utilise the… pic.twitter.com/xVGbg9W5MQ

— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) December 6, 2025

Marius van der Merwe, 41, was reportedly not under witness protection, and a gun was still holstered to him as he lay dead under a police blanket, eyewitness photographs reveal.

The images show his body sprawled on a pavement (under the forensic blanket) and a simple home on a dark street, not well-protected by high walls or an especially bolstered gate.

Van Der Merwe’s car – the one he had been in – shows a logo on the back right.

Daily Maverick has established that it is for the security company QRF Task Team, which, according to its website, Van Der Merwe was the founder and managing director of. (A company search confirmed his directorship.)

National manhunt

A national manhunt is now underway for his killers, and President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned the "heinous" murder of the witness to the Madlanga Commission, who blew the lid off the alleged torture and murder of a warehouse robbery suspect.

It raised the spectre of joint security-police methods of crime-fighting which crossed the lines into state-sponsored violence.

The Madlanga Commission, along with Parliament’s ad hoc committee, is investigating accusations that a drug cartel has infiltrated South Africa’s law enforcement and politics.

In terms of the commission specifically, it has mined an unexpected seam of alleged corruption and violence at the Ekurhuleni Municipal Police Department (EMPD).

Read more: Ekurhuleni officials allegedly protected metro police boss Julius Mkhwanazi and his ‘rogue unit’ for years

It is where now-suspended chief Julius Mkhwanazi first got suspected crime mastermind Vusimuzi "Cat" Matlala, at the centre of the law enforcement scandal because of his proximity to officers, into the police.

This sub-national criminalisation of the state and policing has become the dominant theme of the Madlanga Commission’s work.

“The Commission has noted with profound sadness the brutal killing of one of its witnesses, Mr Marius van der Merwe. (He contributed) towards uncovering serious allegations of criminality and corruption in the EMPD,” its spokesperson, Jeremy Michaels, said in a statement.

Illegal mining

Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga and National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola, who previously appeared before the Commission as a witness, will meet either over the weekend or early next week, police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe told Daily Maverick.

The police have activated a “NATJOINTS” structure, the highest security structuring, including officers and intelligence at the most senior levels, to investigate Van der Merwe’s murder.

Mathe said the investigation ranged further than his testimony to the Commission and included illegal mining, rife on the East Rand.

Van Der Merwe’s QRF Task Team company’s website showed it was linked to actions against illicit mining.

The company’s website says: “The business officially opened its doors in June 2023 and was immediately requested to assist on various coal mines in relation to bulk theft of diesel and coal.”

Meanwhile, the Citizen on Saturday reported that Van der Merwe feared for his life after his testimony at the Madlnaga Commission and said he had been threatened before.

Van der Merwe gave testimony before the Commission about the torture and interrogation of the suspect at an unofficial site in Brakpan.

He alleged that a group of EMPD officers with private security had been involved in the death of the suspect using methods, including tubing, regarded as torture.

The EMPD has emerged at the Commission as a Ground Zero of alleged criminal infiltration, sexual harassment, privatisation of crime investigation and a generally toxic work environment.

'Days were numbered' - report

According to The Citizen report on Saturday, Van Der Merwe had been threatened about a fortnight ago.

“Two weeks ago, Van der Merwe told The Citizen that two white men in a bakkie tried to ram him off the road in Brakpan,” it reported.

“A gunfight ensued, close to the demolished Plastic City informal settlement, where Van der Merwe was instrumental in cleaning up the aftermath of a war between illegal miner factions earlier this year.

“Reflecting on the experience, Van der Merwe said he had been followed and that he believed his days were numbered. He said that perhaps going public would safeguard his life and remove the target on his back.”

President @CyrilRamaphosa offers his deep condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Mr Marius van der Merwe, a Brakpan-based security industry member and former Ekhurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department official who recently testified before the Madlanga Commission.…

— The Presidency 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) December 6, 2025

As for Ramaphosa, he has expressed his views on the murder.

“While our law enforcement agencies establish the circumstances leading to his heinous act, I am appalled and saddened by this attack on a former public servant who recently served the cause of justice and integrity by testifying at the Madlanga Commission,” he said.

“My thoughts are with the deeply traumatised family who came under attack last night. They faced death in circumstances that suggest Van der Merwe’s brave testimony angered elements in our society who want to undermine the rule of law and set back the quest for truth and consequences in the fight against corruption.

“As government, we will redouble our efforts to protest whistleblowers, including witnesses before the Madlanga Commission and the Commission itself, as they serve the nation with bravery in the face of criminal threats.”

Whistleblower safety

Political parties have also reacted to Van Der Merwe's killing.

The DA's Glynnis Breytenbach said: "His murder, carried out moments after arriving home with his wife, is an attack on the very foundations of accountability and justice in South Africa. It is a direct attack on the rule of law, designed to intimidate and frustrate the fightback against the endemic corruption gripping South Africa.

"This kind of mafia-state behaviour, where whistleblowers are gunned down for telling the truth, is something our country has never before experienced at this scale.

"It is terrifying, it is brazen, and it is clearly intended to send a message of pure intimidation."

The EFF said that despite testifying at the Madlanga Commission off-camera and under the pseudonym Witness D, the state "still failed" to protect Van Der Merwe.

"His assassination is, therefore, a calculated message intended to intimidate the Commission, silence witnesses, and protect the criminal syndicates and drug cartels that have deeply rooted themselves in South Africa's law enforcement agencies."

The EFF’s Statement on the Assassination of Witness D in the Madlanga Commission

-Witness D’s evidence was so sensitive that he testified off-camera but despite this, the state still failed to protect him. His testimony made plain the extent to which criminality has merged with… pic.twitter.com/LYGqz3tntg

— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) December 6, 2025

The Good Party's Brett Herron issued a statement saying: "The timing is of particular concern, considering that his testimony (as the unseen Witness D) implicated Deputy Chief of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD), Julius Mkhwanazi, in proceedings of the Madlanga Commission [...] Van der Merwe alleged that Mkhwanazi gave the order for Van der Merwe to dispose of the body of an unnamed man who was tortured and killed in 2022."
Witness protection has been an underlying theme beneath the Madlanga Commission and Parliament's ad hoc committee.

According to s2(1) of the Witness Protection Act, an Office of Witness Protection is established in terms of the Act within the Department of Justice, run by a director of witness protection.

Here is how it works:

1. In terms of s7(1)(a) (iv) – if a witness feels unsafe, he or she can apply for witness protection by reporting their safety concerns to the investigating officer or the South African Police Service, or a body like a commission, where he or she is expected to testify.
2. In terms of s7(1)(2)(s) – if the witness is not able to make such a report, the “interested functionary,” e.g., the head of a commission, can make a report and request witness protection
3. The Director for the Office of Witness Protection, following agreement, for example, with the Witness and Commission, can order that a witness be placed under protection. DM